


Here Comes the Sun

by TheWholeDamnTime



Series: Tumblr Prompts and AUs [7]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-14
Updated: 2014-11-14
Packaged: 2018-02-25 09:24:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2616737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWholeDamnTime/pseuds/TheWholeDamnTime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I’m sorry I was too mesmerized by you to see the pole. What do ya mean I’m bleeding?" au</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here Comes the Sun

Jemma was walking home from her friend’s house, arms tucked in against the autumn chill. The sky was barely darkening, varying from the light pink of a sunset to the blue-purple of encroaching night. She scrunched a bit more into her scarf and was about to pull her jacket in tighter when she heard a metallic clang and a limp figure fell in front of her. As a gasp sucked its way down her throat, the man raised his head, eyes slightly unfocused. “You’re bleeding!” she immediately cried, bending down and pulling out a handkerchief.

"I’m sorry, I was too mesmerized by you to see th’ pole. What do ya’ mean I’m bleeding?" he slurred in a thick Scottish accent. She pulled back the red-spotted fabric from his brow and watching as his eyes focused on the splotches. “Oh.” She pressed it back onto the wound, applying pressure and watching as he grabbed onto her arm to keep from falling back again.

“Have you had anything to drink?” she asked, but it was more a pretense. Simmons watched as his words slurred into each other, making his accent thicker and the sloppy way he grabbed onto her arm. _Reasonably drunk_ , she thought, _but not overly so_.

“Yes. C’mon, y’ knew tha’ already. M’ tongue ‘s never this loose.” She nodded and took the handkerchief away from the wound, nodding to herself when she saw the blood flow reasonably reduced.

“Okay, I’m going to get you home. Where do you live?”

“Three buildings from here, fifth floor.” She nodded and helped him up, a task that nearly sent them both tumbling to the floor again. Luckily, she managed to get him upright and keep him reasonably steady as they walked down the street. “What’s your name?” he mumbled, turning back to look at her. _His eyes are really blue_. As soon as the thought flashed across her mind, she shook her head vigorously, eyes back on the sidewalk in front of her.

“Jemma, Jemma Simmons. People call me Simmons, though.” There was a pause as he nearly stumbled over a crack, but righted himself at the last minute. “What’s yours?”

“Fitz. Technically, Leopold Fitz, but everyone calls me Fitz. Only m’ mum calls me Leo.” His face scrunched up. “Hey, didn’t you write a paper on biomechanics?” She started and glanced up at him, surprise echoed in raised brows and wide eyes.

“Yes, I did. I’m a biochemist.”

“Dinna’ know th’ writer was beautiful as well as smart,” he said with a smile. Jemma flushed pink and bent her head down again, hoping it could pass as redness from the chill in the air. “I’m an engineer. Work down at Stark’s place.”

“How funny!” she exclaimed. “I just moved here. I start my job there on Monday. Oop!” she cried, catching the man before he nearly fell on top of her. “Easy there. We’re almost at your building.”

“M’kay,” he said, goofy grin on his face. “Simmons, I’m lucky.”

“Why’s that?” she asked, light smile on her face, playing along with his dazed and puppy-dog happy state.

“I’ve got a pretty, smart girl with me.” Jemma flushed red again.

“So you’re usually not this loose-lipped, I take it?”

“Nope. Right now, you know what I’m thinking. _Exactly_ what I’m thinking,” he said, stumbling again. As she helped him steady and walked through the building’s front door with him, she couldn’t help but smile a bit.

“That’s nice to hear. Not enough honesty these days.”

“The only truth of this world comes from children and drunks,” he said, drawing a laugh from her as she hit the button for the elevator. “I’m rather clearly the former, aren’t I?”

“Of course you are. You’re how old?”

“Twenty-three.” Jemma stopped in surprise.

“And you’re working at _Stark’s?_ ”

“Graduated early, PhD early as well. And you’re one to talk. You can’t be over… twenty two,” he decided, brow scrunched up as he looked at her.

“Close. I’m just like you. Child prodigy and all that crap, right?”

“God I hate those words. ‘Child prodigy’,” he sneered, the words bitter on his tongue. “Never just a child.” The words struck something in Jemma, the laughter falling from her face. “Oh, gods, I said something tha’ upset you.”

“No,” she quickly amended. “No, it’s just… you’re right. I never had time to be a child.”

“Oh, god, I’m so sorry for bringing this up-” he started, speaking so fast that the words began to trip over one and other.

“It’s fine!” He looked at her with her hands facing him in a gentle _stop_ motion, eyes glazed and jaw slightly slack in mild surprise. “It’s fine, I promise. I’ve just never heard of anyone my age having the same… the same experience, I guess.” There was a pause, and the elevator dinged its arrival.

“Yeah.” There was a pause as Simmons maneuvered Fitz out of the elevator. “There,” he said, vaguely flopping a loose limb at the door.

“Keys?”

“Umm,” he said, patting at his pockets. “Awww, shit. Um, spare’s there.”

“You just pointed at the doorframe.” Rolling his eyes, Leo stumbled a step forward and examined the ridged white wood lining the door.

“I’m an engineer. You thought I wouldn’t come up with something a bit better than the old under-the-doormat trick?” With that, he began to fumble at the edge of the doorframe until it popped open, revealing a little cubbyhole with a key. After Jemma extracted it and unlocked the door, she slipped it back into the hole and watched as it clicked shut, so seamless she could hardly see the edges.

“Impressive.”

“Thanks.” Jemma paused, wondering if she should head in, but made up her mind as he just about faceplanted walking in the front door. Rushing forward, she helped him up and had him point out where the bedroom was. After she helped him navigate the rather messy flat, he practically collapsed into bed. She listened to his rambling mutters of “science-y guardian angel” and “bloody brilliant _and_ pretty” with a red flush on her face and waited as they slowly became incoherent and turned into light snores.  She then went about the kitchen, opening cabinets and putting slightly dirty dishes in the sink, searching for the little white bottle and a slip of paper.

After setting up the gathered items at his bedside, she slipped out, making sure to lock the door behind her and hide the key once more before heading home.

* * *

Groaning, Leo woke up and rolled over to see 9:23 blaring back at him in thick red lights. He was about to shove his head under the pillow again when he noticed the water glass in front of the clock, blurring the edges of the lights. Brow scrunched in confusion, his eyes fixated on two small red pills settled on a scrap of paper, neat, loopy writing forming words that his bleary brain couldn’t make out yet. Slipping the pills between his lips, he swallowed them down and used the rest of the water to clear out whatever had died in his mouth the night before. He pinned the paper to his nightstand with the glass and flopped over again, passing out as soon as his face hit the pillow.

He woke two hours later, finally well enough to pull himself upright and swing his legs out of bed. As he did so, he noticed the scrap of white for the second time, this time pulling it from under the glassware to read the fine script. _Call me? –Jemma_ , followed by a number. Smiling slightly, he reached for his phone and dialed before thinking.

“Hello?”

“Hi, it’s Fitz.” The air immediately stagnated with dead silence that felt a lot longer than the three seconds it actually took up.

“Fitz.” The name was halfway between a questions and a statement,

“I- um, well- I just- er- wanted to thank you. For last night. For, well, um, taking care of me and- er- stuff.” The quiet persisted. “Simmons?”

“Jemma.”

“What?”

“Call me Jemma.”

“Oh.” More silence and Leo shifted on the bed, fingers worrying the sheets.

“It wasn’t any trouble.” Another pause. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been hit by a train.” Now there was a light laugh over the line, soft and faint and slightly muffled, like she had shyly covered her mouth even though no one could see.

“Adequate, considering how sloshed you were. You took the pills?”

“Of course.”

“Good.” She sounds satisfied, happy, and silence falls again, but this time warmer, like a soft blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

“Um, is there any way I could thank you?” He paused, thinking it over. “I could owe you lunch? I know a place downtown.” As the quiet persisted, his nerves spiked and he almost slapped himself. _Stupid! Maybe I’m still a little drunk_.

“…I’d like that, but I’m meeting up with some friends today, and something tells me you won’t be as eager when you open your blinds.” Her voice was light and teasing, and Fitz felt himself feel more at ease. “Maybe next weekend?”

“Sure,” he said with a smile. “I’ll send you the address and stuff?”

“That sounds great. 11?”

“Perfect. I’ll see you then.”

“See you. Bye,” she said, sounding… almost shy. The sound brought a smile to his lips.

“Bye.”

She was right. After nearly screaming from opening his window, Leo practically sealed the blinds shut and resolved to live in darkness for the day.

* * *

_Mondays suck_ , thought Fitz as he stepped onto the crowded subway. The fall air was chilly, and he pulled his coat around him as he faced the wind on the way towards Stark tower. Next to the giant skyscraper was a (barely) more humble building where scientists hurried in and out in a variety of coverings, from heavy winter coats to stained lab jackets. Inside the lab, though, the rooms were filled with people in white lab coats, like insects in the way they scurried about the place. As Leo set up at his station, the manager walked over with someone behind him. Fitz didn’t look up from the work.

“Dr. Fitz, since you’ve completed all of your recent projects, we’ll be coupling you with a partner. She’s requested an engineer to assist her in creating devices to administer her next independent project, so we’ve assigned you two as designated lab partners. Dr. Simmons, this is Dr. Leopold Fitz, one of our best-”

“Oh, we’ve met,” cut in a soft English lilt. Leo stared up in shock, jaw slack.

“Very well, I’ll leave you two to get working.” For a moment, Fitz just stared dumbly at his new lab partner. She smiled a bit and shifted in place, letting him get his bearings.

“Hi,” she offered, the edges of her lips curling a bit more up.

“Hi.” He sat up and scratched his head, a mixture of awe and surprise swimming across his features. “Um… hi.” _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

“Are you alright, Fitz?” she asked, sitting down on the other stool.

“Yeah, just… just trying to wrap my head around this.”

“Well, you better do so quickly. We have work to do.” Immediately, she started pulling out papers. Rough, crude sketches of what might have been a gun peeked from beneath complex notes and formulas as she shuffled through the pages, pulling the ones she needed to the top of the pile. “So, I’m working on a dendrotoxin that will have the capability to knock someone out for an extended period of time, administered through the a similar method to a more conventional weapon. That way we’ll be able to take people out without killing them, thereby preventing more deaths. Now, I need you to make some kind of weapon that can administer the toxin without any complexities- so they can be used by your average soldier. My initial thought was a gun, but I couldn’t figure out capsule ratio or how to keep them from exploding in the gun when it was fired or-”

“Okay, stop. I can handle that. Just… have you made the dendrotoxin yet?” Immediately, the biochemist flushed red.

“A bit.” He raised an eyebrow and she cringed a little. “Illegally. In my bathroom.” The raised eyebrow became a smirk. “Shut up, you!” she cried half-heartedly, smacking him in the shoulder.

“It’s fine. I may or may not have created a radio that can break into pretty much any communication system. That’s how Stark found me.”

“Really?”

“I may or may not have accidentally tapped into the Iron Man suit.” And then they were both laughing at the ridiculousness of it all, her barely being able to breathe as he described JARVIS’s sheer confusion as a Scottish kid started asking the billionaire playboy philanthropist questions about the suit and said AI. And when they finally did start working, Leo couldn’t help but wonder what kind of karma he had earned to work with someone who matched him like a puzzle piece.

At eleven, he pushed back his chair from the blueprint and rubbed his eyes with a small groan. Jemma looked up momentarily from the centrifuge, but turned back to it as a slight _ding_ rang out and the whirring slowed to a stop.

“Well, if that’s done, we’re on lunch break,” said the engineer, “and if I remember correctly, I owe you lunch for picking my drunk arse off the streets.” Simmons smirked.

“I think _drunk_ might have been an understatement. Aren’t you scots supposed to have alcohol for blood, anyways? How’d you get yourself that pissed?”

“Too many shots,” he admitted with a small laugh. “My team for the last assignment wanted to celebrate its completion.” She rolled her eyes at that and he grinned. “Anyways, lunch? My treat.” She nodded and after hanging up their lab coats, they walked onto the streets of New York, matching smiles and science ramblings in the morning sun.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so kind of crappy title. If anyone has anything better, please comment it! (I really need help with my title writing) Comments and critiques welcome, and thanks for reading!


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